The present invention relates to chewing gum products. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of a liquid aspartame dispersion in chewing gum compositions and methods of making chewing gum products containing liquid aspartame dispersions.
Chewing gum compositions often contain high-intensity sweeteners such as aspartame. Sugarfree gums, developed for consumers who are interested in reducing dental caries, frequently use aspartame because the sugarless sweetening and bulking agents used to replace sugar in traditional chewing gum is not as sweet as sugar. The aspartame is typically provided in a powdered form. Aspartame is known to degrade into non-sweetening decomposition products under certain conditions, particularly in the presence of water. Therefore it has been known to encapsulate aspartame to prevent it from contacting the degradation-enhancing components of chewing gum during normal commercial storage conditions.
Aspartame is typically only slightly water soluble and thus its release and perception can be slow to develop when used in chewing gum. As a result, efforts have been made to provide a fast release stabilized aspartame ingredient for chewing gum. U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,543 to Zibell et al. discloses such a fast release aspartame ingredient. The aspartame is mixed with a solvent and an agglomerating agent to form a damp mix. The damp mix is then dried and ground. The resulting aspartame ingredient can then be mixed into chewing gum compositions to give a fast release aspartame.
Many other sweetening compositions using aspartame have been developed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,214 to Wild discloses a sweetening agent that can be made with aspartame and a de-aromatized and concentrated fruit juice. Some of these sweetening agents are suggested for use in chewing gum. For example, EPO Patent Application Publication No. 0 102 032 discloses a stabilized sweetening agent containing aspartame and an aqueous dispersing agent, such as water or aqueous solutions of isomerized sugar, sorbitol, reduced starch hydrolysates or coupling sugar. The sweetening agents contain aspartame in an amount sufficient to saturate the aqueous dispersing agent and further provide undissolved aspartame. It is reported that the aspartame is stable and, when used in chewing gum, has the "effect of increasing the time of sweetness." However, the examples of the sweetening agents disclosed have less than 4% aspartame in the sweetening composition.
Even though various aspartame sweetening agents are known, and some even suggested for use in chewing gum, further improvements are still possible. It is not believed that heretofore known liquid dispersions of aspartame have been widely used to make chewing gum. One reason for this may be the low level of aspartame in the aqueous aspartame compositions.